Wednesday, January 19, 2011
WikiLeaks vs. the privacy of criminals
Wikileaks' release of dozens of private diplomatic cables provoked many to publicly call for Julian Assange's assassination without any due process. Its latest revelations may see that order carried out by private parties: He is now on the verge of releasing evidence that many of the richest people in the world colluded with a Swiss bank to escape income taxes (shocking, I know). The press should be cheerleading this exposition of the secrets of politicians and social elites--after all, that's supposedly the purpose of journalism. But wary to bite the hand that feeds them, they prefer to designate fellow journalists as enemy combatants. It appears that freedom of the press extends only to the polite, the docile, and the acquiescent.
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This is interesting to see the different issues that come up through different Wikileaks releases. Some are considered beneficial. Others, harmful. Assange may be claiming freedom of speech in doing these leaks, but his conscience is weighing heavily on him. This is evidenced in an interview with CNN where he walks out when asked about personal moral issues. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/23/julian-assange-walks-out-_n_772837.html)
ReplyDeleteWhatever message he is trying to send, the only thing I'm picking up is that he is an extraordinarily pugnacious person.
ReplyDeleteThe "exposition of the secrets of politicians and social elites" sounds more like tabloids than legitimate journalism. Publishing information that was obtained illegally isn't journalism. The people/organizations that leak source code, for example, onto the internet aren't called journalists, they're called hackers and pirates. Assange isn't any different.
ReplyDeleteFascinating responses. Basically, what I'm hearing is that the popular press has succeeded in convincing us that when a person exposes government-sanctioned torture and mass murder, the greater crime lies with the one who passes the leaks along (remember, Assange broke no law, though perhaps his sources did). It's genuinely nauseating.
ReplyDeleteAlso, "personal moral issues" involves a baseless claim of date rape which has nothing to do with the issues at hand, but which everyone involved seems to think is more important than actual videotaped murder: http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D25EWUUBjPMo
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